Sharpe As A Blade
by AnimagusFireblade
Summary: "Right there is quite far enough, Ta-er al-Safar. Come any closer and I'll kill her." From my angle, I see a strand of dark hair slip out of the cloak. "The Demon wouldn't kill his heir." I smirk, calling his bluff. "Is that who you think this is?" This One-shot is a closer look into the prelude to another piece I wrote, Nothing Comes Out Unscathed.


Sara POV

It's been weeks now. Ava and I spend almost every night together except when my team is out on missions. I look forward to every ending, knowing my girlfriend will be waiting for me in bed when we finish up. So life with Ava has been great.

What hasn't been great is the fact that my subconscious doesn't sleep well with others. Most nights start off the same. We get ready for bed, get settled, and drift off. Then sometime between 1-5am, I'm awoken by a nightmare. I have been able to hide a good bit of them from her if I can manage to wake up silently. The moments where the terrors collide with my real life and thoughts make me scream, startling Ava awake. These occurrences end in tears for both of us with her rubbing my back, me sobbing and gulping in air.

She always asks if I'm okay, and I just nod. The subject of my terrors are left unsaid. She gives me space. I hope she knows that they are too painful for me to force onto someone else. Once I get my breathing under control again, we lay back down and push so close that nothing could fit in between us. Her hands rub soothing circles on my back until they still, telling me she made it back to sleep. Half of the time I just stay awake, too afraid to fall back asleep. The other half drags me under, exhaustion winning out.

Today I woke up silently from a nightmare. I clung to her side making her subconsciously turn into my embrace. My fear did not outweigh my willingness to let her sleep. When she finally stirs hours later, I try my best to fake waking up. I yawn and stretch. Her sleepy smile makes my heart flutter, so I lean in to capture her lips. I give her a brief peck, knowing her aversion to morning breath.

"Morning, love." Her brain hasn't fully woke up, so it comes out like a mumble. I grin and kiss her nose.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." I roll out of bed and get dressed for the day. After a few minutes, Ava gets up and does the same. We leave my room together and head to the kitchen in search of food and legends.

I'm running up the hill at full speed. Roots and tree branches hit me continuously, slowing my progress. My heart is pounding, I hope I'm not too late. The trees are so thick I can barely see the sunlight above. Finally I see the end up ahead. I break through the tree line and end up on a plateau. The weather has shifted from hot and suffocating to cold and bitter. Wind whips snow and ice all around, biting into my face and arms. The ground is covered in snow and rocks line the edges. I don't have to look over the edge to know exactly where I am. This is the sacred grounds in Nanda Parbat. The exact place Ra's Al Ghul tried to kill Oliver.

I notice movement. Ra's is standing a few yards away from me. He is holding someone in front of him, but I can't see their face because it is concealed in a cloak. His sword is poised over their throat. I slowly continue forward.

"Right there is quite far enough, Ta-er al-Safar. Come any closer and I'll kill her." From my angle, I see a strand of dark hair slip out of the cloak.

"The Demon wouldn't kill his heir." I smirk, calling his bluff.

"Is that who you think this is?" My smirk falters as the man in front of me changes forms. The voice I just heard wasn't Ra's. This voice is the one that haunts most of my nightmares. Damien Darhk smiles at me as he pulls back the cloak. My breath is caught in my lungs. I can't even scream when the blade slits her throat. She crumbles to the ground, lifeless eyes staring up at me. With tears streaming down my face, I go to her and cradle her body in my arms. I push the stray hairs from her face as I lean down to kiss her forehead.

"Such a pity, the little canary will sing no more. Love is a weakness, heartbreak is the ultimate tool to get what I want." I look up to meet his gaze with one of pure hate. The darkness inside of me from the Lazarus Pit flares up. I gently lay her body down and stand. A blade appears in my hand. I won't let him live this time. I lung at Damien, slashing and hitting wherever I could land a blow.

"Is that all you got, little bird?" His amusement spurs me forward, lashing out harder. After a few maneuvers, I knock him off balance, sending him down into the snow. My blade is at his throat, he is pinned with nowhere to go.

"Any last words?" I pause to see if he will plead for his life. He just stares up at me, emotionless.

"Sara, I love you." I jump back like I've been slapped. I'm staring at Damien, but that wasn't his voice.

"Sara." I stare at him as I become more scared and confused.

"Sara, wake up." Suddenly, I'm not in Nanda Parbat. I'm in bed on the Waverider with the sheets wrapped around me and feathers floating around. As my mind catches up with my body, I realize I am straddling Ava, poised above her with a blade to her throat. I immediately jerk away, falling flat on my ass on the hard floor. My eyes are wide with fear. She sits up and looks at me concern. I can see where my blade had been against her throat, a small streak of blood running down into her shirt.

I hear a strangled cry like a trapped animal. I glance around trying to pin-point it. To my horror, the noise is coming from me. The tears in my eyes spill over, I curl into a ball to block out the pain. Hands find my shoulders and try to make me look up. I fight them, pushing them away in fear of hurting them.

"Sara, look at me. I'm okay, it's okay." Ava rubs my back to console me. I attempt to push her away, but she won't budge. I continue to sob until my breathing becomes ragged and I get hiccups. At this point, she has managed to pull my body into her lap as she leans against the bed. She cups my head to her neck, my ear lining up right above her chest and soothing heartbeat. I focus on the sound and the feeling of her hands. When my breathing returns to normal, Ava shifts until we are able to look each other in the eye.

"You have to tell me what just happened." My tears start flowing again at the sound of her words. I cling to her body, wrapping my hands tightly around her waist. She waits for my reply.

"I-I had a nightmare. This one was different. It-it was so-so real. But so wrong. Things didn't make sense. Ra's was there but then he was replaced by D-Damien. He had a figure in front of him. I thought it was Nyssa, that Ra's had threatened to kill her. But when Damien pulled back the hood, it wasn't her." I stay silent after that, feeling her hands rub more soothing circles on my back.

"Who was it, Sara?" Her voice is quiet when she asks. I cling tighter. We both know the answer, but she is waiting for me to say it.

"You." It comes out barely above a whisper, almost unnoticeable if not for the dead silent room. Ava leans back to meet my eyes.

"But you know Im okay now. That it was only a nightmare and neither one of them can get to us." I nod. I should believe that statement, but the dreams were so real. The pain of watching her die was unbearable. I stretch up to kiss her, needing to feel her warmth. She reciprocates knowing that I need it. She pulls back after a few minutes, both of us out of breath.

"I love you. I know the nightmares can be bad. I think talking about them will help though, especially when they feel real." I nod again not looking up at her. She gently grasps my chin and raises it to make our eyes meet.

"I really mean it, Sara. Let me help you."

"I know, I'll try. I'm sorry I hurt you." My fingers brush over the dried blood where my blade had been. She captures my hand in her own and kisses it.

"I'm okay, but next time will be easier if you talk." She smiles at me making me melt. I lean in to kiss her, but she moves backward. I notice the mischievous glint in her eye.

"And no more knives. I have no idea where you keep hiding them, but they have got to go. Your subconscious has an unfair advantage." I laugh at her attempt to lighten the mood.

"Deal, I'll keep them out of the bedroom. Guess I should start locating them." I push up off the floor to start collecting them. Ava's eyes widen with every blade I find. I'm up to about thirty when I reach for her duffle bag. I pull out a knife from the bottom under the liner. It is so thin that the knife almost disappears from view when it is sideways. Her jaw starts to descend to the floor.

"In my bag? Why did you think you would need one there?" Her question causes me to shrug.

"I didn't know when I would need one so I make sure I always have one." I twirl the blade in my hand. "We will also have to go to your apartment."

"And why do we need to go there?" Her face is puzzled.

"Because you said no blades in the bedroom. That would include your bedroom, would it not?" Her puzzlement morphs into shock and then annoyance.

"Sara Lance, there is no reason for you to have put blades around my apartment." I shrug.

"I would never take a chance for something to happen to my love because I didn't have them." Her gaze softens at my comment.

"Fine, you can keep one in both rooms. But they better be very, very far away from our beds." I grin at her.

"Of course, love. Whatever will make you sleep at night." She rolls her eyes.

"I sleep just fine, dork. It's you that keeps me awake." Her smirk falters as she registers her words. I kiss her cheek.

"Relax, babe. There are plenty of ways that I keep you up at night." I wink at her, making her blush. I capture her lips and lay her back on the bed, planning to show her all the ways I can keep us both from sleeping.


End file.
